Cisco has an early lead in the IPS market, but as demand grows other players are coming on board and pushing the market closer and closer to the $1 billion mark.

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Cisco has an early lead in the IPS market, but as demand grows other players are coming on board and pushing the market closer and closer to the $1 billion mark.

Intrusion Prevention Systems (IPS) has emerged as a highly competitive market, with a number of vendors jockeying for a larger slice of growing enterprise spending. Meanwhile, CIOs are looking to better secure their networks and their users as risks proliferate -- and are counting on the vendors to deliver solutions that keep them ahead of the threats.

According to a new report from Infonetics Research, the IPS market generated $800 million in 2009 and is expected to hit $1.2 billion by 2014. Currently, Infonetics ranks networking giant Cisco as the leader in the market, though it's a position that is being challenged by big-name rivals including IBM and HP's TippingPoint division as all three map out new ways to meet enterprise IT's needs.

"As Infonetics reported, Cisco has taken a strong leadership position in IPS, and will continue to expand that position in what is still a relatively fragmented market," Rush Carskadden, product line manager for Cisco Security, told InternetNews.com. "As the security landscape continues to evolve at a rapid pace, customers are looking for solutions that react to threats accurately and quickly, while not sacrificing the potential for a holistic approach to security for their organization."

While Cisco is continuing to invest in its security technologies, rivals are doing the same, sensing an opportunity gain a larger foothold of their own in the enterprise.